The Building Tradesman Newspaper

Friday, March 31, 2000

By The Building Tradesman

The ingenuity of construction workers received tip of the hat on March 16
amid hundreds of construction industry movers and shakers from around the
world.

"Throughout history, construction innovations have been made by craftspeople,
to improve the way they work, and to help them work more efficiently at reduced
cost," said Boilermakers International Union President Charles Jones. "Some
people think that innovations don't come from people working with the tools;
they're wrong."

Jones was the keynote speaker at the 11th annual Construction Innovation
Forum (CIF) Awards celebration at Laurel Manor in Livonia. The forum is an
international nonprofit group that recognizes innovations in construction which
improves the industry's quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

"The CIF is not here just to hand out awards," said CIF Chairman Roger Lane.
"We are on a mission to help spur on the innovation and change needed to keep
our industry thriving in the new millenium"

The only Michigan company among the five NOVA Award winners this year was
General Motors, for designing a guardrail on wheels that eliminates the need for
parapet walls for fall protection.

Other innovations that received awards were a steel-free concrete bridge
deck, a rapid deployment barge and crane that can quickly be deployed overland
on an 18-wheeler, a lock-up device to transfer loads between bridge supports,
and friction pendulum seismic isolation bearings to reduce structural damage in
bridges and buildings during earthquakes.

The Boilermakers' MOST (Mobilization, Optimization, Stabilization and
Training) Program won a NOVA award two years ago. Under Jones' leadership, the
program has become a nationwide model system for safety training and for saving
workers and employers time and money by standardizing alcohol and welding skill
tests, and making the results easily available to employers. Instead of being
tested on every job, workers take one test, and participating employers can
determine a workers' qualifications by tapping into a computer database.

"After we consulted with contractors and owners, we adopted the program
nationwide," Jones said. "The MOST program has made workers more safety
conscious and has saved everyone involved hundreds of millions of dollars.

"Our goal is zero accidents - and that's not pie in the sky. There are
several lodges that have worked large jobs without a lost-time accident. Over
the course of the MOST program we have avoided 10,600 accidents costing $324
million dollars."